There have been very few similarities in each of Dennis Gates’ first four years as the Missouri men’s basketball head coach.
His tenure in Columbia has resembled more of a roller coaster, even though the Tigers have made the NCAA Tournament three times.
But one of the few similarities each season has been a subpar non-conference schedule.
I get it. The Southeastern Conference schedule is a gauntlet, and honestly, the last thing you want to do is wear out your players by mid-January.
However, it was hard for the non-conference schedule to keep Tigers’ fans tuned in before Christmas, outside of the games against Kansas and Illinois that fall toward the end of non-conference play.
For the most part, Missouri’s non-conference schedule these past four seasons seemed to feature three Southwestern Athletic Conference schools and a bevy of schools that stopped in Columbia during their money-making cross-country road trips. To be fair, usually one of the SWAC teams would make the NCAA Tournament, but usually as the No. 14 seed.
Well, the non-conference schedule is going to look a little different this upcoming season.
Throughout the summer, the Tigers’ social media accounts have announced some non-conference opponents to get fans excited.
The first was adding Nebraska to the schedule. It will be the first time the Tigers and the Cornhuskers meet on the basketball court since 2011, when both teams were still members of the Big 12 Conference.
This was a pretty big get for Missouri. Nebraska has recently become a national power under Fred Hoiberg, who guided the Cornhuskers to their first-ever NCAA Tournament win in March. And this game will be played in Kansas City, giving Missouri two games at T-Mobile Center in December, the other being the final game of their six-year series with Kansas.
The next day, Missouri confirmed its SEC/ACC Challenge opponent would be Pittsburgh, giving the Tigers a home game against a Power Four opponent.
Again, Missouri is guaranteed an ACC opponent every year, so this is nothing new. But a home game against Pittsburgh — which finished 15th in the ACC last season — is better than a home game against LIU.
Also in early June, Missouri announced it will play Saint Louis in a “neutral site” game at Enterprise Center in St. Louis. The in-state schools haven’t played each other in a quarter of a century.
Many Billikens fans had been clamoring for this matchup for years, to determine the best men’s basketball team in the state. For the longest time, Missouri saw this as a lose-lose proposition, but when you lose twice at home to UMKC, risking losing to Saint Louis doesn’t sound so bad after all.
I’ll be curious to see how many folks show for up this contest, the start of a three-game series. It likely will be the season opener for both teams, set for Nov. 6, so perhaps it will be a near-capacity crowd like the Missouri-Illinois Braggin’ Rights game.
Then Missouri announced it will play in the 2026 Legends Classic against Marquette at the United Center in Chicago.
The Golden Eagles didn’t make the NCAA Tournament last season, but they did in their first four years under Shaka Smart, so it’s another quality opponent for the Tigers during their non-conference slate.
Then, on Thursday, Missouri announced it is playing an exhibition game against UNLV in Las Vegas. Yes, it’s an exhibition game, but it’s still something.
I’m not sure what has caused Gates to schedule tougher non-conference games. It could be to help out the Tigers’ NET ranking for another bid into the NCAA Tournament. It could be because the Tigers have one of the nation’s top freshmen in Jason Crowe Jr. and they want to give him more early-season exposure.
The real reason doesn’t matter, though. What matters is finally, Missouri is going to see tougher teams before SEC play.
I would have rather preferred an appearance at the Battle 4 Atlantis or one of the many events in Las Vegas, but this slate will certainly do.